Little White Lies
by FunkyWeeMonkey
Summary: Alison took five girls under her wing, not four. A tortured five girls, not four. After leaving Bella's dad, her mom moved them to Rosewood, not Phoenix. Then A was caught and Bella's mother took her away so she could move on. A year later, when Bella lives with her dad in Forks, and the girl believed to be A shows up, will the threats start again? And what will the Cullens think?
1. Chapter 1

Hey! This is my first fic for either of these fandoms.

Just so you guys know, this is set after new Moon, and just after the end of season 2 of Pretty Little liars.

Bella still moved to Phoenix, but she lived in Rosewood for years before that in this timeline.

Happy reading!

* * *

Bella lifted her tray, holding only a can of soda, an apple and a chocolate chip cookie, and made her way hastily to the Cullen table. Emmett appeared to be playing a game on his phone, knowing him and his craving for new crazes; it was probably the new update of Temple Run. To his left, sat his blonde bombshell of a wife, leafing through her new copy of _Mechanics Weekly; _strange how someone so typical can break a stereotype so much. To her surprise, Alice and Jasper were both missing. Taking her usual seat next to Edward, she melted into his side as he draped his arm over her shoulder.

_"I really wish you'd eat more." _Edward's musical voice drifted to Bella's ear.

_ "I eat fine, Edward. When you start eating this cafeteria mush and keep it down, then start lecturing me." _The 18 year old's genuine disgust for the school's food was clearly showing, at which Edward could only chuckle at.

_ "No lecturing, no lecturing, just concern for your well-being. How was class?"_

_ "It was meh. Same as always. Where have Alice and Jasper disappeared to?"_

Rosalie found herself answering Bella's question without thought. She found herself softening towards the human since the incident with the Volturi.

"_Apparently she had to hit a sale at Forever 21 before other students get wind of it, and of course, where there's a major sale, Jasper's two arms are needed to carry all of her crap."_

Bella smirked at the thought of poor Jasper being carted around the Mall. No doubt Alice would find an excuse to venture into other stores too.

On the whole, the family had never been better. Her biggest concerns with the Cullens had been Rosalie and Jasper. Alice had taken to her even before Edward and Emmett would have kept her around simply to catch her in her clumsy moments. Carlisle and Esme had always just appreciated that Edward wasn't alone anymore, that he was happier since coming to Forks. Rosalie though, hadn't trusted her, not that Bella blamed her. If a stranger suddenly got involved with _her_ vampire family and ran the risk of exposing them, she'd be defensive too. If anything, she respected Rosalie for it. Luckily, they were on good terms now. Bella suspected that the fact that she had dropped everything to go sprinting, literally, to her brother's aid in Italy had helped. She still needed to speak to Jasper about her birthday the previous year though. The poor guy still blames himself for all the drama, and the whole almost-giving-in-to-his-natural-desires-and-killin g-Bella thing. It couldn't be easy being the only member of the family to struggle so much with the other side of him. The only problem was, she didn't know how to; the last thing she wanted to do was make him uncomfortable.

Stuck in her thoughts, she didn't notice the other three giving her questioning looks. Emmett's energetic voice pulled her back to the surroundings.

_"What's got ya thinking so hard there, Bells?"_

Bella sighed dramatically, _"Just that something must be wrong with Alice?"_

She watched with amusement as the trio's faces morphed into a combination of confusion and worry.

_"Wait, what's wrong with Alice?"_

_ "Well if she put you in that shirt, Em, she's obviously off her game."_

Silence took over the table for a few seconds while Bella's statement sunk in, until two booming laughs, one from her blonde friend, and the other from her boyfriend, who she could feel shaking slightly against her, took over. Once again she smirked at Emmett's deadpan facial expression in front of her, and she faked a glance down at her watch.

_"Oh, look at that. Time for class!"_

She and Edward stood and moved towards the door, where Bella dropped off her tray on top of the bin. She took Edward's hand and tugged him out the door behind her.

_"Didn't you know that Alice only plays dress up with you and Jasper?"_

_ "Oh, I knew. I just couldn't pass an opportunity to make him squirm."_

Humor thick in Bella's voice, Edward said one simple thing as they approached Bella's locker.

_"That's my girl."_

* * *

As Edward's Volvo pulled into the Cullen driveway, Bella spotted Alice's canary yellow Porsche. A random thought occurred to her as she got out and headed towards the door, behind the rest of the family, and brought a grumbled remark from her.

"_She better not have bought me more clothes."_

From behind her, a snigger was heard.

"_Don't get your hopes up, kid."_

She strolled on into the living area and stopped, holding her forearms out to the sides in an expression of disbelief.

_"Alice! Did you buy out the entire store?!"_

Alice paused momentarily in her folding, obviously having gotten overexcited when she got home, to reply,

"_That's rhetorical, right?"_

_ "For anyone else it would be. You know I'm not playing Barbie with you, don't you?"_

Having heard the quick exchange, Alice's siblings filtered in to the room; these arguments were always something to see. From the kitchen, Esme could be heard shouting a warning not to break anything. The vampire members of the family seemed to think wrestling would solve anything, which ended up in nothing but two squirming sort-of-teenagers being yelled at next to broken furniture. Even though nobody would dare to wrestle with Bella though, things just seemed to break when in the same vicinity.

_"No! Please! Look what I got you! They had this gorgeous little minidress, and look in that bag! Isn't that the cutest sweater your closet would have the privilege of holding?"_

_ "Alice, we talked about this!"_

_ "But Bella, why wo-"_

_ "Alice. What did we agree on the last time this happened?"_

Alice plunked herself down on the sofa, evidently on top of a couple of bags still full of clothes, and folded her arms. The others still were watching on in delight, particularly Jasper who was already in trouble for tricking his wife into coming home earlier than planned. At least the heat was off him for now.

"_Alice. What did we say?"_

With a resigned sigh, and sudden slouch in posture, the pixie – like girl gave up.

"_That I can't tell you what to wear."_

_ "What else?"_

"_That I have to stick to Carlisle and Esme's allowance'_

Bella was glad this could be over before any yelling started. That in itself could cause a simple argument to drag on into a week-long stalemate at times.

"_Good. Anything else?"_

_"That I can't replace the clothes in your closet without telling you first."_

The taller girl stood dumfounded at this, but counted to 5 in her head before continuing to speak in a dangerously slow voice.

"_I didn't say that. When did you replace my clothes?"_

To be fair, Alice at least had the decency to look somewhat guilty as she explained.

"_Well they were pretty old clothes, but I gave them to Goodwill! I'm sure people will appreciated those big knitted sweaters you had in the back, behind your jeans."_

_ "My Grandmother made those! Alice!"_

_ "I'm sorry! I didn't know! I won't do it again, I swear!"_

Rosalie stood between the two smaller girls in the hopes of bringing a truce, despite the fact that Bella's argument clearly trumped Alice's in this case, as far as she was concerned.

"_Why don't we all get out of the house for a bit, yeah? We could get hiking equipment from the Newton's store for our hunting trips."_

Murmurs of agreement came from throughout the room. Edward waited until everyone had left the room before taking Bella's hands and kissing her on the forehead. They exchanged comforting smiles and made their way outside.

Bella spent most of the ride into the town, watching the scenery pass by. When she first arrived in Forks she hated the idea of it. Having spent most of her life in cities of some sort, she had felt isolated from the rest of the world. Instead of lights everywhere, and traffic noise at any given time, all that could be found here was green land and quiet. She had come to love it though. The thought of going back to over populated streets and faces she didn't know was no longer appealing. She found that the privacy and calmness that Forks gave was almost freeing. The Cullens had had a lot to do with it too. She smiled at the image of the family of vampires going camping. The only reason they even bought equipment was to appear more human to other people.

She didn't really know what went on during the trips they took. Nobody would tell her; that was probably Edward's doing. She didn't push though; she knew it was hard enough on them already, especially with everything they had done to protect her. It would almost seem like a waste not to stay human, not that that would stop her.

She was jogged from her thoughts, as the sight of Mike Newton's family camping store came into view. One of the best things about Forks was that everything was no more than a 5-minute drive or so. At least, she wouldn't get a muscle cramp while driving here. Seconds later she found herself hearing a bell ring above her head as she entered, smiling brightly in greeting to the cashier, who she vaguely recognized at Mrs Newton.

"_Okay, so the tents are towards the back. How many do we need?" _Rosalie appeared to have taken charge, and headed straight towards what she wanted. Jasper, Alice and Edward headed in another direction, while Bella and Emmett followed the tall blonde.

"_Maybe 2?" _

_ "Really Em? Just 2?"_

_ "Bells, we always have a guys tent and a girls tent.'_

The human girl was about to retort with another joke, convinced she was on a roll today; it was obviously a story for the humans around them since Emmett never passed up a chance to have 'alone time' with his wife, when she tripped on a keychain that someone had knocked over. She quickly grabbed a shelf that was secured to the wall to steady herself. Emmett's bellowing laugh could be heard all over the store, drawing other customer's attention to them; the guy's like a foghorn. No doubt this would bring on the clumsy jokes now, not that she really minded. It made her feel like part of the family.

Bella rolled her eyes and glanced out the window behind Emmett's head and noticed a girl that looked very familiar walking along the street opposite the store. She was somewhat short in height, with long mahogany shaded hair, and curled to just below her shoulders. She was slightly baby – faced, although appeared to be at least the age of a high school-er, and was wearing a pair of dark wash denim jeans with one of her signature lace dresses and matching sweater ensembles; all black, with the exception of her brown ankle boots. Black. How fitting of her.

The laugh died off Bella's face and was replaced with a washed out look of shock and horror. The two beside her noticed and stopped their light teasing.

_ "Sweetie, are you alright?"_

Ignoring her concerned friend, Bella suddenly ran from her position from the back of the store to the door, almost tripping again on the way. She flung the door open, unaware of the bell ringing loudly and tried to catch the other girl, sprinting as if someone's life depended on it. She understood how people could 'see red" and refer to a 'bucket of cold water' being thrown over them, although usually they don't go hand in hand. Both were feelings she'd experienced far too often, the last thing she wanted was to have to feel it in her new home.

She heard a car horn blaring behind her, having had to break suddenly to avoid hitting her. Reaching the pavement opposite the store she had previously been trying to drag Alice from, she failed to see the Cullens following behind her. In other circumstances she would have found the fact that that she was 'outrunning' them laughable, but then again, they had to make it believable to the other Forks residents floating around the town. When the girl approached the end of the street and began to head left around the corner, Bella called out to her.

_"Mona!"_

She could have sworn that she saw the girl tense at hearing her name, and turned the corner quicker than before. This spurred Bella on, and she found herself running faster. No longer simply calling her, she screamed, feeling the adrenaline build within her.

"_Mona!" _

As she turned the corner, expecting to find the girl she had known from so long ago, she came to an abrupt stop. She was faced with a huge crowd outside the city hall, protesting something or other. The disbelief of the situation hit her as she stood unseeing to the Cullens joining her. Adrenaline still pumping, she could feel tears prickle at her eyes as the disappointment and fear set in.

_"What the hell were you thinking? You almost got hit by a car!" _Rosalie.

_ "You didn't even give me a chance to see anything, Bella!" _Alice.

_"Bells, really, you're a klutz and a danger magnet already. The last thing you need is to add a car accident to your list." _Emmett.

_"Bella. Love, what was that? Are you alright?" _Oh God. Edward. What would she tell him?

Bella could feel Edward take his place in front of her, running his hands over her arms and looking her up and down, in a desperate attempt to ensure she was okay. He cupped her face and stepped closer. "_Look at me, please."_

She made eye contact with him and opened her mouth to explain, before realizing that now was not the time and closed it again. He could see the unshed tears being pushed away and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her as close as she could get, without hurting her, of course. Bella slowly slid her hands across his sides and up his back, almost clinging to him. As they stood in a tight embrace, the delicate girl rested her cheek against her Edward's chest, while their four siblings watched on with apprehension.

He gently rocked her from side to side, in barely seeable motions, and did what he could to reassure her, hoping it was just enough to calm her until they were out of the public eye.

_"It's okay. Whatever happened is over now. I love you, we're here."_

While Bella felt safe in his arms and content with his words, and she knew Jasper was helping her too, her mind couldn't help but wonder; if Mona was in Forks, was it truly over?

* * *

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	2. Chapter 2

Bella was surprised. Shocked really. She had a notorious reputation for being a terrible liar, as long as the Cullens were involved at least, and yet with a few deep breaths she had managed to convince them to forgo the questioning she was bound to receive until they were back at the Cullen home. However, as she tried to sneak a peek at the speedometer in Edward's Volvo, suspicious that he was speeding more than he normal was, no doubt out of concern, a shrill ringing made her jump. Quickly, she dived toward the bag at her feet and grabbed around before eventually finding her cell phone.

"Hello?"

"Bella! Where are you?"

"Angela?" A second of confused silence passed before Bella realized what she had done. "Oh Ange! I'm so sorry! It completely slipped my mind. I'll make it up to you, I promise."

"Is everything okay? It's not like you to forget to study with me."

"Yeah, I just had an eventful afternoon and completely forgot. The test isn't until Monday so we could study tomorrow and then have the weekend for the loose ends."

"I can't. My parents are going out of town tomorrow afternoon so I'm the sitter all weekend." On hearing this, Bella felt a wave of guilt hit her. She always hated letting anyone down.

"Maybe I could come over to your place and we could study there?" She could hear Angela consider this and hoped it would work, determined to get both of them through their AP English class.

"Okay, that would work. Just come over anytime after school. Thanks Bella, I'll see you then?"

Bella smiled in satisfaction. Yes, sometimes she does mess up but she always fixes it.

"Great, I'll see you tomorrow, Ange."

The girls hung up and Bella realized the entrance to the land leading to the Cullen house was approaching. Within a minute, they were parked and the high – schoolers got out and left Edward and Bella in the car.

"You know we're having a family meeting now. Don't even try to get out of it." Edward gave her a stern look and got out, leaving Bella to let out a frustrated groan before following him.

Following Edward into the living room, she noticed the family had already gathered, minus Carlisle who was no doubt off saving lives and being awesome at the Forks hospital. Looking around the room, everyone was seated on the cream leather couches designed by Esme herself, who was the first to speak.

"Bella, sweetheart, what's this i've heard about you being in a car accident?"

Bella suppressed a sigh and tried to not take Esme's hurt look to heart.

"It wasn't a car accident. I didn't look when I was crossing the street and a car had to brake and swerved a bit, not that they even needed too."

"Why were you in such a rush anyway?" Bella hadn't expected Rosalie to be one to show concern for her, although they had been getting along much better since the events of Italy, although after looking to see her expression she could tell it was merely curiosity, rather than worry.

"I thought I saw someone that I knew before I came to Forks. "

Instantly the brunette regretted her explanation, as she saw both Edward and Alice's curiosity peak. The last thing she wanted right now was to have to answer a reel of unwanted questions. Luckily, so far since meeting the Cullens she had been able to shrug off her past as uninteresting and no more than average. She also considered herself lucky that Emmett had not yet thought to Google her name.

"An old friend? From Phoenix?" The short, dark haired girl seemed excited at the prospect of hearing about a younger version of Bella.

"Sure." That's not a lie, right? Saying 'yes' would be a lie.

"While I'm sure it would be lovely to see a familiar face, you should really be careful. We worry about you sometimes, Bella.'

"I know, Esme. I'll be more car-"

"You need to think before you rush into things, love. You're still very much breakable." That bothered Bella. It sometimes seemed that everything always got turned into a conversation about Bella's humanity. Despite the fact that Bella appreciated that Edward loved her human side, every comment, albeit positive, that he made just reminded her of the differences between them; the inequality; the distance he kept; the things they couldn't have until she was changed. Everytime he stayed over at her house, he would never just hold her in his arms; a blanket was a 'necessary' barrier. Everytime they kissed, it was always careful and thought out, never spontaneous and passionate. Everytime they were alone in their cars, he always held his breath, never trusting himself, never really comfortable. Later, when she got home she would feel guilty for snapping at her boyfriend, and send him an apology text message, all the while feeling a dull ache in her chest at the injustice of the situation.

"You know there's an easy way to fix that."

Edward looked taken aback at his girlfriend's tone of voice and the steely resolve in her eye, while everyone else in the room became aware that this was not a conversation they should be commenting on. "Bella, it's not as easy as you think."

"Yeah, so you've said." Bella turned around to lift the long strap of her book bag that she dropped against the doorframe after entering the room, and pulled it across her shoulder.

"Where are you going?" She could hear Edward following her as she swiftly made her way to the main door of the house.

"Home."

"But I drove you here."

"I can walk. The fresh air will clear my head."

On that, Bella shut the door behind her and made her way down the Cullen lane in the direction of her home.

She didn't see Edward staring at the door in concern, or the rest of the residents glancing at each other with similar looks of unease and dread. She didn't see Alice approach her favorite brother and softly tell him that the human girl he loved so much would make it home safely tonight. And only Alice saw his vulnerable attempt at a grateful smile. Sadly, the slight downturned corners of his mouth gave away his regret that things couldn't be different.

* * *

She didn't think about the Cullens when she got home, not when there was a possibility that Mona was in Forks. She had spent all her time preparing and eating dinner with Charlie running through every possible scenario in her head, while she absently listened to Charlie talk about sudden vandalism attacks around the town. There truly was no logical explanation for the Rosewood resident's presence. It had to be about Bella, which really really was not good.

She sat in the center of her bed; legs folded in front of her, with her bedroom window open enough to allow a cool breeze, but not enough for Alice or Edward to see as an invitation. Her sleek silver laptop sat in front of her with the IM app opened. She took a deep breath and added four names that she had not contacted since arriving in Pheonix to a conversation window.

**SpencerH; AriaM; EmFields; Hanna have been added to the conversation. **

**SpencerH:** Bella?!

**BelSwan:** Hello

**Hanna:** Well if it isn't the prodigal son

Bella smirked at the signature sarcasm from the blonde.

**AriaM:** Hanna.

**Hanna**: What?! She drops off the map for 2 years and then just pops up again?

**BelSwan:** You know my mom insisted that we start over when we got to Pheonix :(

**EmFields:** She knows, she just doesn't want to admit she missed you.

No longer a smirk but a small smile of appreciation.

**SpencerH:** How's Pheonix going for you anyhow? We heard your mom got married

**BelSwan: **Yeah, she did. It was just mom, Phil, their parents and I. A couple of their friends too.

**AriaM: **Well? What's he like? Is he cute? ;)

She let out a shocked laugh and grinned. She really needed to make this a regular thing, she missed her friends' quirks.

**EmFields: **Aria!

**Hannah: **LOL

**BelSwan: **He's good for her. He's a semi – pro baseball player. I'm not living in Pheonix anymore though. He had to travel a lot and mom hated seeing him leave so I volunteered to live with my dad.

**SpencerH: **In Washington? :O That's a big change from Pheonix.

**BelSwan: **It is, but it's grown on me.

If only she could tell them why.

**BelSwan: **How's life in Rosewood? Any drama?

**EmFields: **I went on a date with Paige.

Wait, what?!

**BelSwan: **The Paige that tried to kill you? Guys?

**AriaM: **She seems cool now since the whole coming out thing

**Hanna: **Besides she knows that we could totally kick her ass if she tries anything dodgy again

**SpencerH: **Nice, Hanna

**Hanna: **As if you weren't thinking it :P

**BelSwan; **Alright, I'll take your word for it. How's it been going?

**EmFields: **We're just seeing were it goes but I think it'll last, longer than Ben at least.

Bella snorted and grinned at the memory of Emily's first relationship. A guy named Ben who spread rumours that they had been sleeping together. Not surprisingly, it hadn't lasted much longer after that.

**BelSwan: **That's good to hear Are Haleb and Spoby still on?

**Hanna: **Oh, it is on ;)

**SpencerH: **Toby's good. He's doing more work on the loft for my dad so he's living in there now :D

**BelSwan: **Good, good Aria, how's Fitz?

She could see the phrase 'AriaM is typing…' stop and start several times before her smaller friend replied with an obviously covered up somber attitude.

**AriaM: **We decided to take a break.

Crap! Bella felt guilt and a tiny bit of pity well up inside her. After everything the couple had been through, they aren't even together.

**BelSwan: **I'm sorry, Aria

**AriaM:** It's okay. It's hard to get used to but it was getting too complicated and it was better for us both to back off a little.

**EmFields: **Mona's gone.

Bella froze. She felt like she'd been punched in the stomach, winded.

**BelSwan: **Gone?

**SpencerH: **Apparently she moved to another facility in another state.

**Hanna: **More like Wren and the rest of the Radley doctors knew she was a lost cause and shipped her off so they wouldn't have to deal with her.

**BelSwan: **What if it's a cover story?

**EmFields: **No, Bella, we aren't doing that again. It's over. Mona is off getting the help that she needs somewhere.

**AriaM: **Bella?

**BelSwan: **I thought I saw her today.

**SpencerH: **Mona?!

**BelSwan: **Yes. And the chance of her being shipped to a hospital near Forks not long after I move here is very slim.

**EmFields: **I'm sure it was just someone who looked like her

Bella sighed and ran her fingers through her long mahogany hair.

**BelSwan: **So nothing A or Ali related has happened since Mona got caught?

A few seconds passed with no reply from any of the girls, sending Bella's suspicions going.

**BelSwan: **Guys?

**Hanna: **Someone dug up Ali's body a few weeks ago

**EmFields: **HANNA!

**AriaM: **Hanna!

**BelSwan: **WHAT?!

**SpencerH: **What Hanna so tactfully tried to explain was that a few weeks ago we had a few drinks when my parents were out of town and woke up in the middle of the night to a missing Emily.

**BelSwan: **Oh God. Em are you okay? What happened?!

Fear and dread gripped Bella, knowing that nothing good could come from this story. In fact, knowing what these stories used to lead to, made her think it would be nothing less than chilling.

**AriaM: **So we went looking for her, and eventually found her standing over Alison's grave, drugged with the shovel that was used in her hands.

**EmFields: **And her body was gone.

**BelSwan: **Crap… You got out of there, right?

**SpencerH: **Yeah. We headed straight up to the summer house and burnt Em's clothes.

**AriaM: **Unfortunately, we weren't quick enough. We walked right into a trap.

**EmFields: **A trap set by A.

**BelSwan: **Mona was A.

**Hanna: **That's what we thought too. Except Mona was still in Radley and the messages THIS A sent us were definitely from the same A.

**SpencerH: **We were considering the possibility of A being more than one person.

**BelSwan: **Like a team?

Bella could feel herself panicking. If A was a team of people, it would be more than possible for A to remain in Rosewood to hurt the others, and still come to Forks to get to her.

* * *

_14__th__ NOVEMBER, 2008_

_Two young girls were kneeling at the side of a house, peeking through a first floor window, ready to duck at the first sign of getting caught. The tall, closely trimmed hedges behind them blocked them being seen by the neighbors or anyone passing by. _

"_Ali, we shouldn't be doing this. Can we just go?" The pale brunette let worry slip in her tone. She wore knee length dark wash denim short with a royal blue t – shirt; simple and straight to the point. Her blonde friend to her left on the other hand, wore a yellow sundress, going to just above her knee. It had thick green straps which crossed over on her back and made its way around her stomach like a belt; complicated and glamorous. They both dressed their personalities in their outfits. _

_ "Relax, will you? It''ll be fine. Just follow the plan." The girl rolled her eyes at her friend's concern._

_ "No, Ali, we're going to get cau-"_

_Alison roughly grabbed Bella's wrist to get her attention. _

_ "Ow! Ali!" Bella hissed in a hushed voice and glared at the blonde._

_ "Look, this bitch deserves everything she gets. She's spent years taunting you. Wasn't she the one who told Todd that you bat for the other team after telling you that he's into you? Oh, and the rest of the guys he hangs out with. Do you want her to get away with that?"_

_ Bella stuttered and blushed at the memory of flirting with the cute baseball player, only for Selene to quickly stroll over to make a snide comment and break out in giggles as she walked on. Of course, Todd had smirked and excused himself after that. _

_ "I-I, maybe she shouldn't but this is overkill. It's not going to work."_

_ "Shh! She's leaving. Let's go. Just stick to the plan." _

_They watched the teenage girl leave her home and turn to walk in the opposite direction from them, allowing time for her to turn back in case she had forgotten something. Once she was out of view, Alison stood and pushed the window upwards, until the space was big enough for them to climb through. She gave Bella one last devilish grin before pulling herself into the house. Not only was Bella freaking out about getting in trouble now, but she didn't even want to imagine the backlash she would get from Alison if she didn't follow her. Taking example from the other girl's technique, she swung herself through the window frame, but unfortunately landed in a heap on the floor. Apparently she was far less graceful than Ali._

_The girls headed straight for the stairs and then Selene's bedroom. The first thing Bella noticed was not the four-poster bed, or the glass and metal-framed desk next to the large window, but the lack of photographs. There were none. Even Ali had photographs of herself with her brother Jason, and they could barely be in the same room without the, very genuine, threat of bodily harm._

_ "Jackpot!" Alison sneered. She began flipping through the book and taking in its contents._

_ "Fine. We got what we came for. Can we please go now before someone comes home and catches us?" Alison took pity on the brunette on hearing the thinly veiled fear in her question. She nodded, tucked the book, Selene's personal journal, under her arm and made her way back to their window with Bella gladly in tow. _

_ "What are you going to do with it then?"_

_ "Don't worry about that. Just leave it to me."_

_ "I would but sometimes you seem to, and don't take this the wrong way, but you tend to hover on the line at times."_

_Alison stopped and spun around to face Bella with a fierce look on her face._

_ "God, Bella, stop being such a wimp. Honestly, it's pathetic. Chill out, this is payback. It's supposed to hover the line, that's the point."_

_Bella decided to let it go for now. She really just hoped this wouldn't end too badly for anyone. On a good day she didn't have the best luck, and the last thing she needed getting back to her police chief father was tales of his daughter breaking and entering, and stealing from a private property. _

_Alison was her friend though; she wouldn't let Bella down. _

_THREE DAYS LATER_

_Bella rushed up the main steps of her middle school, afraid of getting detention for being late. Once again, her mom forgot to fill the car with gas the day before. However, as she approached the main doors of the building, she squinted at the view through the glass panels in confusion. The sound of a beyond normal volume of chattering hit her as she pushed the door open with one hand, clutching the strap of her bag in the other. Looking over the heads around her, she spotted Emily's dark brown waves next to a flash of pink and headed in that direction. _

_Emily and Aria, who had recently added pink streaks to her dark hair while her parents were at work, were standing close together looking wide eyed and appalled._

_ "Hey! What's with all the chaos today?"_

_The other girls exchanged a sad look before Aria spoke up._

_ "It's about Selene."_

_Instantly Bella was alert, trying not to openly panic. What could Ali have done to cause _this_?_

_ "What happened?"_

_ "Someone stole her diary and printed copies of some of it. It's all over the school, like literally. They stuck it to every notice board there is, and put a copy in every student's locker." Aria reached behind her and handed Bella an A4 page with a copy of a page from the journal._

_As she read though it, she could hear the others exchanging sympathies for the poor girl._

"It's SO unfair! Josh always gets all the attention. They think they can just throw money at me and everything will be fine. Just because Josh is older. It's not like he's the only one that was adopted! So what if Lucy and Scott couldn't have kids, they aren't exactly doting parents. They only adopted because they needed kids to look like the picture perfect family. They cart Josh around letting him do whatever takes his fancy just because they're afraid he'll go off the rails. And it doesn't matter what I do, nothing is ever good enough. Well screw them! As soon as I'm 18, I'm out of this stupid town, and never looking back.'

_What the hell was Alison thinking?! She was going to wring her neck when she found her. Bella stood in shock, not knowing what to do next, until very quickly, the talk dimmed to whispers, bringing her to look up. A puffy eyed Selene had just left Principal Rodgers' office behind her obviously angry parents, Lucy and Scott. _

_After leaving, the hushed voices returned again to the previous noise. _

_In the corner of her eye, Bella could see Alison leaning against a bathroom door, and subtly crossed the room after giving Emily and Aria an excuse._

_She pushed open the door and jerked her head to the left, indicating that Alison should follow. The young brunette took a few seconds to check that the bathroom was clear before confronting her friend. After all, the last thing they needed was someone hearing this conversation._

_ "What the hell did you do?!"_

_Alison simply raised an eyebrow and folded her arms against her chest._

_ "I got you your payback. Now she'll be leaving for good."_

_Bella stood with her mouth agape, not believing how Ali could so thoughtlessly do something so nasty._

_ "Ali! That page simultaneously outed both Selene _and _her brother as adopted, something they obviously didn't want people knowing, and frankly it's nobody's business either, and got her into a hell of a lot of trouble with her parents, after she slated them so much."_

_ "So what? We won't be seeing her much anymore anyway, if ever again."_

_ "And why's that?_

_ "Because Scott and Lucy _do _want the picture perfect image. Do you really think they're going to stick around in a town where their carefully built reputation is ruined?"_

_ "You know what? You didn't hover on the line this time. You're so far past the line that you can't even see it! You're a selfish piece of work, Alison DiLaurentis."_

_Bella was pissed off, to put it plainly. She gave the blonde a scathing look and stormed past her. However, before she could leave, Alison piped up again in a threatening voice._

_ "Just to remind you, this was payback for _you_. _You_ broke into their home and _you_ helped steal that book. Bella, sweetie, you're just as much to blame as I am. You should just hope nobody finds out you're part in this."_

_ "Are you threatening me?"_

"_Of course not. I'm just giving you some friendly advice."_

_And with that final statement, Alison held her head high, brought her signature smile back to its place and left, leaving Bella wondering how she didn't see how far the dark side of her friend could go, or even if there were any limits at all._

Bella woke up suddenly, in a cold sweat and breathing heavily. She sat up in her bed and glanced around the room. A photograph of her mom and herself in the bleachers of a baseball field in Pheonix sat on her bedside table. Her uniform for the Newton's store hung over her deskchair. The car keys for her truck that her father had thoughtfully acquired on her behalf on hearing she'd be moving in were casually dropped onto the desk, next to her new laptop. She let out a shaky breath and ran her fingers through her hair. This was her life now, and she loved it like this. Whether Mona or A or an army of rouge vampires appeared out of nowhere, she wasn't going to run his time.


	3. Chapter 3

__Hey! Sorry about the wait! I got hit with a serious case of writer's block, and i'm not very happy with this chapter but needed to get it out to move on. Hopefully I'll start getting updates out more regularly, fingers crossed! Also, I'm keen to hear your opinions too. Is the pace too fast, too slow? etc So enjoy! And please review if you have time :)

* * *

_Bella woke up suddenly, in a cold sweat and breathing heavily. She sat up in her bed and glanced around the room. A photograph of her mom and herself in the bleachers of a baseball field in Pheonix sat on her bedside table. Her uniform for the Newton's store hung over her deskchair. The car keys for her truck that her father had thoughtfully acquired on her behalf on hearing she'd be moving in were casually dropped onto the desk, next to her new laptop. She let out a shaky breath and ran her fingers through her hair. This was her life now, and she loved it like this. Whether Mona or A or an army of rouge vampires appeared out of nowhere, she wasn't going to run his time._

* * *

ONE WEEK LATER

Bella stared blankly out the cafeteria window opposite her. She really tried to listen to the people around her but with the Cullens away on a 'camping trip' she had taken the opportunity to catch up with Angela and the other Forks residents. Unfortunately for Bella, Angela was out of school with a bad case of the flu, leaving her to be the target for one of Jessica's bitching sessions about Lauren; something to do with Tyler and a misplaced prom proposal.

"So when did you say the Cullens would be back?" If it wasn't gossiping, Jess' apparent favourite topic of conversation was Bella's relationship with the mysterious family on the outskirts of the town.

"I'm not sure yet. They want to take a vacation for maybe a week or two but with Carlisle's job they may have to come back on short notice." Alice predicted the sun would be out for another week, despite the previous two days being unusually warm and bright for Forks.

"Oh, how are you going to last two weeks without Edward?" And there's the backhanded comment she'd been expecting.

"I'll be fine. They'll be back before we know it."

"But you're, like, joined at the hip?" Bella rolled her eyes in a completely non – subtle manner.

"Jess, I did have a life before the Cullens you know." Jess raised her eyebrows and ignored her chicken salad.

"What was that like?" Just as Jess got her words out a bell rang, signaling the end of lunch, and Bella suddenly remembered why Alice was so much better company than the people sitting at the table now.

"We have English now, right? I need to get some books from my locker. I'll meet you there?" As she spoke, she stood and lifted her tray to throw away on her way out. The other girl gave a toothy grin and replied happily.

"Sure. I'll save you a seat!"

The brunette nodded and headed towards the main cafeteria exit, disposing her tray as she passed the dump spot. Setting her sight on her familiar spot in the hallway, she was hit with a pang of sadness for her absent boyfriend and his family, not to mention her old friends.

2-14-6

Her locker door swung open and a white envelope fell out. Both curiosity and dread, no doubt a result of Mona's stalking years before, struck her. She glanced around at everyone surrounding her to find anyone behaving suspiciously but nothing was out of the ordinary. She carefully opened it and pulled out a folded up piece of paper.

_The atmosphere in the room was more tense now than it had ever been. Bella, Aria and Hanna were seated on barstools in Spencer's kitchen, while Emily flitted around the kitchen making coffee. Caffeine was probably the last thing they needed right now but moments like these were the only comfort the girls had. Spencer hurried down the stairs and over to the kitchen with her laptop tucked under her right arm._

_ "Did you find something?" Emily was the first to ask, only to be disappointed by her friend shaking her head as no._

_ "No, but there must be a connection somewhere between Ali and the N.A.T club." Hanna's disbelief showed instantly._

_ "Spence, even if there is there's nothing we can do. Jason skipped town, Ian knocked up your sister, who by the way is starting to seem pretty suspicious herself, and Garrett is a corrupt cop!"_

_ "Hey! Melissa isn't A."_

_ "We don't know that!" Aria, Bella and Emily gave each other sympathetic looks of understanding amidst the arguing. They knew how heated both their friends could, and in this case, would get._

_ "Exactly! We don't know anything!"_

_The tall brunette stood glaring at her blonde friend but was interrupted from whatever she was about to say by a loud knock at the door. She jumped and looked questioningly at the others but found equally puzzled expressions on their features. Spencer quickly answered the door. A teenage boy stood in jeans resting low on his hips and a loose fitting t – shirt handed a box to her._

_ "What's this?"_

_ "I don't know but I got 20 bucks just for bringing it across here to this house."_

_She gently took the small package from him and thanked him, knowing there was no point in asking about the person who gave it to him. With a final nod, he turned and jogged away from the Hastings house._

_ The girls instantaneously moved to stand around the coffee table in the living room and Spencer pulled the brown packaging off the box to reveal a simple cardboard cube. Everyone seemed to freeze until Bella let out a frustrated sigh and ripped the tape of the top and pulled out 5 white envelopes, each with bold black cursive ink spelling out their names. She handed each one to the matching name and opened it without thinking. Each girl took turns reading a line from another threat from A. Bella squeezed her eyes shut and silently cursed how familiar a routine this had become._

Shaking herself from an old memory, she opened up the note to find it was nothing more than a blank piece of paper. She shrugged and dropped it back into her locker, shut the door and continued on to class. Her main concern was getting through the rest of the day without her usual companions to keep her entertained. She could just picture Alice talking a mile a minute about some sale at the mall or about a vision she'd had, despite knowing that nobody, the exception being Jasper, can really keep up with her.

* * *

TWO WEEKS LATER

"It's not funny!" Bella bellowed at Emmett in obvious frustration. Edward gave Emmett a glare in response to his not-so-subtle sniggering.

"Oh, come on Bells, relax"

"No, I'm fed up being your own personal joke." She decided to outright ignore him from then on; maybe the silent treatment would prove her point. It's not like it was her fault she was clumsy, and the fact that every time she tripped or stumbled, gorgeous graceful vampires surrounded her; as if she didn't feel small enough already.

Sighing heavily she got out of the huge Jeep that her brother of sorts drove, slammed the door behind her and cut straight through the parking lot to get to the door. Behind her, Rosalie quietly started berating her husband while Edward hurried, at a human pace, to catch up with his petite girlfriend. He knew exactly how she felt when she became the butt of the family's entertainment, and despite how hard he tried to make her feel better when it happened, he knew there was really only one way to truly make those feeling disappear. He just wasn't ready to go through with it yet.

_Edward climbed through his girlfriend's window earlier than usual today but he was concerned about Bella after she had suddenly started acting strangely. Unlike every other night when she would be waiting on her old bed for him to arrive, she was absent. He frowned and listened out for Charlie's thoughts but got nothing; maybe he was fishing again. Confident that the Chief of Police wasn't in the house he ventured out into the hallway, following the, unexpectedly distressed, heartbeat towards the bathroom with growing concern._

_ "Bella?" he called hesitantly. He heard her drop something and gasp; he must have startled her. "Everything okay?"_

_ "Yeah! Just give me a second, I'll be right out." Hearing her heart beat speed up again, his worry got the better of him and he silently pushed the bathroom door open. She was sitting on the edge of the bathtub with her forehead resting in her hands, elbows leaning on her knees. His breath caught in his throat, if that was even possible for someone like him. _

_ "Hey." She jumped and looked up suddenly with damp eyes at his voice. He instantly noticed her flushed cheeks and slightly tear stained face._

_ "What? I can't even have a minute in the bathroom anymore?" Bella straightened her facial expression and glared at Edward. She stood and quickly retreated to her bedroom before he could apologize. He followed her, gently took her wrist in his hands and pulled her towards the bed, seating her opposite him._

_ "What's going on, love?"_

_ "Nothing. Just forget it."_

"_No, I won't forget it. I love you and I need to know why you're so upset." Receiving nothing but silence, he lifted Bella's chin to force her to look him in the eyes. "You know I just want you to be okay, I want to help." She sighed._

"_I'm just tired of being the laughing stock." Edward blinked in surprise and furrowed his eyebrows._

"_Laughing stock?"_

"_Yes. Because you and Alice and Rosalie and everyone else are all so graceful and poised and perfect all the time, and I'm just the clumsy, helpless sidekick that everybody keeps around for laughs when I can't measure up." The acceptance of her statement rang clearly through the tone of her voice and killed Edward to think that this is what he and his family had let her believe. This beautiful angelic young woman in front of him thinking she wasn't equal to them, when, as far as he was concerned, she was out of _their_ league. _

"_God, Bella. That's what you think? That's not it at all."_

"_Edward, don't-"_

"_No! I'm not going to let this go. I hate that you feel like this and you shouldn't believe any of those things. My family, no, _our _family, is far from perfect Bella. You know what we are capable of, what we've each done in the past." Bella began to speak so he raised a finger to her lips to quiet her. He knew she needed to hear this. She _needed _to. "Listen to me, love, really listen. You are the single most amazing thing in my life, now and ever before, and that won't change. You are so unbelievably enchanting and intelligent and strong. Bella, you have no idea just how strong you are, and I promise you, that nobody in our family will make you believe that you are anything less than that." Edward stopped and just gazed into his love's deep brown eyes and saw a wet sheen to them. He hadn't wanted to make her cry again. Bella let a small smile grace her face, maybe he had done something right after all. The brunette shifted herself around Edward to lie down next to him, laid her head on his chest and wrapped an arm around her waist. _

"_Thanks Edward. I love you."_

"_I love you too, Sweetheart." He watched her small smile grow into a soft grin as he stroked the side of her forehead, and waited for sleep to take her. _

Bella heard Edward catch up to her and tuned him out. She knew it wasn't his fault but she was still angry and wanted to be left alone. She passed Jessica and Mike arguing in one of the little alcoves in the hallway and secretly wished that neither of the two would have a chance to corner her today. The last thing she wanted was to have to listen to them complaining about each other. The last time they had a fight she ended up having to be the mediator just so Jess would stop implying that she was trying to 'steal' Mike. With that in mind, Bella almost reconsidered her decision to steer clear of most Emmett and his siblings. She stopped abruptly at her locker and fumbled with the code. Eventually, the door swung open with a loud crash as it hit the wall of metal connected to it. Great, now everyone was eyeing her. She gritted her teeth and began to pull her Chemistry books out, but stalled in what she was doing when she noticed a white envelope, again with her name in black cursive script on the front.

"I'll talk to him, love." Bella rolled her eyes and turned to face Edward, dropping the letter into the bottom of her locker. It was the forth she'd received over the past few weeks and she could confidently hazard a guess that it was blank too.

"You don't need to. It's just how he is. I get that now. It's annoying but he's harmless and doesn't really mean anything by it."

"Still, that doesn't make it okay. Especially if-"

"Edward, I promise, I'm fine. Let's just get to Chem before Lawson freaks out about punctuality again."

Edward rested his hands on Bella's shoulders and gently squeezed, in an attempt at non-PDA comforting, before nodding and leading her to their classroom.

Bella stared out the Chem lab's window at the vast lush forest outside. Memories of her meadow came to mind and she smiled. Despite how much she'd love to reminisce about her time with Edward, this was an important class, and one that she hadn't been doing so well in. She was drawn back to the class discussion when a red-haired girl in front of her raised a hand to question the teacher.

"Professor, is it true that you can actually make invisible ink?" The teacher rolled his eyes dramatically and a put out expression took over her face. Bella had no idea how this was related, mainly because she had been daydreaming again, but found herself curious to hear his response.

"Invisible ink would not be the correct term, Miss Martin. However, yes, it is possible to create a method of writing that is unable to be seen by the naked eye."

"How does it work?"

"Chemistry, of course. It's all about the chemical reactions. There are a number of ways to go about it but the most straightforward way, would be to use a substance of some kind to code a message on paper, like phenolphthalein, more commonly known as a pH indicator. Later, the recipient would use an acid or base, ammonia for example, to reveal the message. There are substances within the home that can be used also but that was not the main course of today's class. Open your books to chapter six and start reading while I get your surprisingly mediocre pop quizzes handed out."

Suddenly a light bulb went off in Bella's head, metaphorically of course. Those letters she'd been getting! It was a long shot but there could be a possibility that whoever sent them used some sort of ink like the ones Professor Lawrence just talked about. She quickly stuck up her hand, and saw Alice look up with confusion on her face out of the corner of her eye.

"Yes, Miss Swan?"

"May I be excused to go to the bathroom please?" The tall, middle-aged man simply nodded and held out a hallway pass for her to take with her, as she passed him.

She closed the door quietly behind her and hurried to the store room of the Science department, where all the equipment and chemicals were kept. She just needed to make sure she didn't get caught taking anything. The last time someone did that, they got stuck with detention for the rest of the year; granted, there was only three weeks left but still. She found herself standing in front of the locked glass cupboard with shelves filled with test tubes of different coloured liquids and powders. Key. Where was the key? Glancing around the room, all she could see was Bunsen burners and psychics vacuums; no keys of any sort. Taking a leaf from Spencer's book she pulled the top drawer from the chest next to the cupboard. Finding only student details, which definitely were not supposed to be stored in a science supply room, she raised her eyebrows and shook her head in disbelief, then moved to the next drawer. You would think that high school staff would follow school policies much better than stashing detention forms and class records in a random drawer somewhere. Jess' mother would freak out.

Leafing through a pile of letters, she eventually wrapped her hand around a set of keys. Luckily the first key she tried fit and she gently pulled the two glass doors open. If she was going to have time for this without getting caught she would need to speed up; the last thing she needed was to have her Dad called to the high school for a meeting with her science teacher about theft. After a moment of searching, Bella found what she was looking for and locked the cupboard, putting the keys back afterwards. Silently, she shut the storeroom door behind her, leaving no trace of herself inside, and all but ran to her locker. No doubt Alice would see what she was up to, and that meant Edward would know too. She just hoped she'd be able to come up with something believable when they questioned her later on.

Retrieving the small pile of letters from the bottom of her locker was easy; it helped that nobody was loitering in the hallways as she got them. She just needed somewhere to try out her theory. Spotting a Janitor's closet down the hall she grinned and headed towards it, turned on the light and locked the door behind her. She knelt on the cold concrete ground and placed the closed test tube to her left, and laid out the four letters in a row in front of her. With a deep breath and very wishful thinking, she pulled the lid from the test tube and carefully, so it didn't stain the floor, poured it over each of the letters and watched bright fuchsia letters appear on the previously bright white paper.

**_It's not what it looks like. They're coming for you. Keep running, Bells –Redcoat_**

**_It's not over yet. The worst is still to come and you're going to get caught. Get out of Forks - Redcoat_**

**_They know about them, Bella. You aren't the only one in that town that's in danger. There's only one way to stop them – Redcoat_**

**_You're out of time. You should have run while you had the chance. How can you save them now? Good luck, Bells, you'll need it – Redcoat _**

Redcoat. Didn't Emily mention her in their last phone call? How could she be here? Why would she even want to help Bella? Not to mention the fact the only people that called her Bells were her father, Emmett and the girls from Rosewood.

She sat, wide-eyed and shocked, kneeling on the ground in a damp closet, wondering what would happen next. Whatever it was would be big, and very damaging.


End file.
